Lee hoping to throw opponents a curve

Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee, pitching in a game last month against Toronto, says he hopes to be able to better command the curveball this year. Lee started against the Jays Tuesday night and allowed one run in three innings. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Cliff Lee made an interesting statement after working three solid innings Tuesday night at the start of the Phillies’ 5-3 loss to the Blue Jays in Grapefruit League action. He said his best pitch is one that, last season, made up about 7 percent of his pitching repertoire. That would be the curve.

“I actually think it’s my best pitch,” Lee said of the curve that he and the staff have talked about featuring more often this season. “It’s just the hardest pitch for me to command. The action on the pitch makes me feel it’s my best pitch, but it’s hard for me to command.”

So far Lee has seen little loss in velocity on his hard stuff — his fastball and cutter were down less than one mph from the year before in 2013 — but at 35, odds are good there’s going to be at least a modest dip in the coming few years. For many left-handers, the key to extending their careers — think Tom Glavine — is using the curve.

So consider this Lee getting a jump on the need.

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“I want to locate fastballs for sure, cutters and changeups (as well),” Lee said. “Those are the most important things for me, but I definitely want to use my curve more. I’m going to mix it in more often, but I still have to make sure I get the fastball, change and cutter down before I move on to other things.

“Those first two innings I was able to get those pitches over, so I was able to use the curve more in the third.”

Despite Lee’s sharp outing, the Phillies continued to have quiet bats. Marlon Byrd hit a two-run opposite-field homer in the third inning, but the Phils left men on base early and went completely dead at the plate after Byrd’s bomb to fall to 1-6 in Grapefruit League games.

Manager Ryne Sandberg is not a fan of losses, even in games that don’t count.

“Absolutely. I don’t like losses,” Sandberg said. “You like to win games. It seems some of these games it’s been a crooked number in one inning (by an opponent), but our offense hasn’t been able to do anything to counteract that.”

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In early December of last year, the Phillies sent backup catcher Erik Kratz to the Toronto Blue Jays in a trade.

A month later, the Phillies held their annual cruise for fans. And there was Erik Kratz, no longer a Phillie, still on the cruise with his family.

“They actually called me and said they still wanted me to go,” said Kratz, who was sent to the Blue Jays along with minor-league pitcher Rob Rasmussen for veteran reliever Brad Lincoln. “I felt I had signed up to do something, so it was my duty to still do it. I mean, a trip to Cancun isn’t the worst thing on Earth, either.

“If people signed up and paid money — not necessarily to see me, but maybe — and I signed up to do something, I’m going to finish it.”

Kratz had a roller-coaster season last year. He struggled as the everyday catcher while Carlos Ruiz served a 25-game suspension in April, but had a productive five-week stretch after that in which he hit six homers in 83 plate appearances. That, however, got cut short when he required arthroscopic surgery on his knee, and when he returned from that procedure in late July, he never did get his power swing kick-started.

“I was ready,” Kratz said. “I just didn’t get it done in the second half … I didn’t do what I needed to do in the second half.”

Toronto has the 33-year-old Lansdale native working with knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey so he can serve as his personal catcher. He says his knee feels better than it did at any point last season and that adjusting to Dickey’s tricky stuff is a work in progress.

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NOTES: Jimmy Rollins was a late scratch from the starting lineup Tuesday night. He has been battling flu-like symptoms. Starting in his place was Freddy Galvis, who had left Monday’s game with a tweaked ankle. Galvis was moving without a problem, although he was hit by a pitch in that same ankle in his first plate appearance. … Third baseman Cody Asche (bruised right hand) participated in all drills Tuesday, and Sandberg said a return to game action should come in the next day or two. … The Phillies have Sean O’Sullivan on the mound as Wednesday’s starter against the Braves. Brandon Beachy gets the ball for Atlanta. … The Phils have split-squad games at home against the Yankees and on the road against the Tigers Thursday. Cuban right-hander Miguel Gonzalez, who made his debut against the Yanks Saturday in Tampa, is scheduled to work against Detroit along with right-hander David Buchanan. Kyle Kendrick will make the start against New York’s Masahiro Tanaka.